A court is granted some flexibility in setting the amount of child support in a particular case. Specifically, the court is allowed to set a child support amount that is either five percent above or five percent below the guidelines amount if it feels the circumstances warrant it. For example, suppose Ken and Marla are divorcing, have one child from the marriage and, under the guidelines, Ken’s presumptive child support obligation is $200.00. The court may, in its discretion, order Ken to pay between $190.00 and $210.00, depending on what the court felt was appropriate. If the court seeks to vary from the guidelines by more than five percent, it must make a written finding that explains why the guidelines amount is inappropriate. For instance, if the court wanted Ken to pay $250.00, it would need to make specific written findings that detail why the court felt it was necessary to deviate from the guidelines in this amount.
Whenever child support is an issue in a Florida divorce, both parties are required to complete financial affidavits that detail their income and expenses. These affidavits are then filed with the court and sent to the other party. There are two types of affidavits available; the gross income of the individual party will dictate which form the party will use. A party whose annual gross income is less than $50,000 per year will complete Form 902(b), while a party with a gross income of $50,000 per year or more will complete Form 902(c).
Each form contains instructions detailing what sort of income must be included in the affidavit and what sort of deductions may be claimed. The affidavits begin with a calculation of the party’s “gross income,” which includes most types of earned and unearned income. In particular, gross income includes:
As one can see, the list of what constitutes income is rather expansive.
In order to deter one party from trying to escape paying child support by becoming or remaining unemployed, Florida statutes allow the court to “impute” income to an unemployed spouse. A court may impute income to a parent who tries to become “underemployed” and work hours that are below full-time in an attempt to reduce his or her child support payments. In other words, courts can treat an unemployed or underemployed spouse as if he or she is in fact employed full-time and earning a full-time wage. Before a court may do so, a court must find that the unemployment or underemployment is voluntary; that is, that the parent’s unemployment or underemployment is due to that parent’s own free choice and is not due to circumstances beyond his or her control (like a voluntary layoff or a reduction in hours ordered by the employer). In addition, a court may impute income to a party who fails to complete and file a financial affidavit. The statutes set forth specific rules governing how imputed income is to be calculated.
After gross income is determined, each party may deduct certain expenses and costs in order to arrive at their individual net income figure. Each deduction reduces the amount of income that will be used to calculate the child support amount. The deductions permitted include:
The amount of income that results from deducting all allowed deductions from gross income is the net income of each party. Both gross income and net income figures represent monthly income figures.
